This application relates to a new cultivar of Vriesea. The new variety is the product of a planned breeding program. The new variety originated as a seedling from the crossing of the unpatented, proprietary seed parent Vriesea ‘v.478-1’ with the unpatented, proprietary pollen parent referred to as Vriesea ‘v.668-3’. The crossing was made by the inventor in his research greenhouse in Lithia, Fla. in October of 2003.
The new variety was first selected by the inventor, Herb Hill, a citizen of United States, in April of 2006 in a research greenhouse belonging to the inventor in Lithia, Fla. After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor continued confidential testing and propagation of ‘V858-2’, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘V858-2’ was first performed at a commercial laboratory in Kudelstaart, Netherlands by tissue culture in 2008. Access to all plants was restricted, as plants were kept in a greenhouse not open to the public. Through subsequent propagation, multiple generations have been reproduced, which have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.